Survey to Shipped

5-step method: Survey → Score → Pick → Build → Operate

Version 1 · June 29, 2026 salesmethodology

Content

# The 5-Step Survey-to-Shipped Method

_Parent: Sales Methodology_

The repeatable process from "we have manual workflows" to "we have a deployed system."

## The five steps

### 1. Survey

Employees describe their three most tedious workflows — programs used, manual actions, time per occurrence, frequency. One-page response per person. Senior leadership doesn't guess at what hurts — frontline staff name it.

### 2. Score

Each response is rated on:
- Hours per week
- Loaded hourly rate
- Labor value freed per year
- Complexity (1–5 scale)
- Build cost
- Year-1 ROI
- Payback months

Output: the Workflow Scoring Matrix — sortable spreadsheet that compares every reported workflow apples-to-apples.

### 3. Pick

Senior management selects the workflows to automate first, in priority order — using the scoring matrix. Decision criteria: highest labor recovery first, lowest complexity to break ties, prefer workflows that share infrastructure (so the Foundation tier amortizes faster).

### 4. Build

Fixed-price, fixed-timeline build. **45 days from kickoff to go-live.** Written acceptance criteria signed off before work begins.

### 5. Operate

It runs on their own systems, in their accounts. They own the code and the data — built to keep running long after we hand it off.

## Why this method works

- The survey defuses the "we don't know what to automate" objection
- The scoring matrix makes the conversation quantitative, not opinion-based
- Senior management retains decision power — we're consultants, not deciders
- Fixed price + fixed timeline eliminates the consulting-firm fear ("this will balloon")
- "You own everything" beats every SaaS subscription pitch they've heard

## Using this in pitches

If a prospect says "where would we even start?" — walk them through this 5-step method. It positions us as the partner who already has a playbook, not the vendor still figuring it out.

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_Last updated: 2026-05-24_

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